"After a general election, the appointment of a Prime Minister is the prerogative of the Sovereign.

In appointing a Prime Minister, the Sovereign is guided by constitutional conventions. The main requirement is to find someone who can command the confidence of the House of Commons.

This is normally secured by appointing the leader of the party with an overall majority of seats in the Commons, but there could still be exceptional circumstances when The Queen might need to exercise discretion to ensure that her Government is carried on."

In 2010 the situation was that Gordon Brown didn't resign immediately although he didn't have a majority. Cameron was talking to the Liberals; the Liberals were talking to Conservatives and Labour. But the real problem is it was taking a long time - in effect no functioning Government.

Dialogue takes place between the Head of the Cabinet Office and the Queen's representative on these occasions - so the Cabinet Office was keeping her - as Head of State - informed on progress (or lack of it). In all I have read about it, the Head of Cabinet Office (Gus MCDonald at the time) was pressing all parties to sort out either a Coalition or minority Government. Its important to remember that we'd not had a coalition government before except in times of war). The Head of State is entitled to know and ask about timelines.

I don't think there was a plot. This is a woman who accepted, via a number of Governments including Conservative, going 20 years without any increase in Grant.

If there was a plot, it would have been front page news.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

Giving a timetable by which she wanted a government formed isn't 'interfering' so much as ensuring that there is actually a functioning government in place. It was announced quite early that she wanted the government to form before the start of the following week so that the government was in place rather than the uncertainty that having no government would entail. Had she not said anything then the wheeling and dealing could have gone on for weeks or even months and that would not have been good for the country. Her detractors will always see such a comment as her interfering rather than seeing it as actually doing her job.

There was also the backdrop of the Greek sovereign crisis, and a real fear that the pound would suffer materially if the financial markets did not sense a stable government would be formed.

Before the 2010 election. when it was clear that there would be a hung parliament, there was a great deal of speculation that the Queen might actually have to play a more active role in the formation of the government (akin to what happens in some continental European monarchies). However, both David Cameron and Nick Clegg at the time were adamant about keeping the Queen out of the process and said it explicitly when asked in public about it.

A prime minister remains in office until he/she resigns. Following the election, Gordon Brown didn't immediately resign and tried to form a coalition with the Lib Dems, who thought Labour, as the incumbent government party, had the prerogative to talk to them first. It became immediately apparent though that a Labour-Lib coalition would be impossible and Clegg turned to the Conservatives, his preferred choice for coalition partners as the largest party in the House of Commons. Once Cameron and Clegg reached an agreement and announced it in public, Gordon Brown went to the Queen, advised her to send for Cameron and then submitted his resignation. Shortly after, the Queen appointed Cameron prime minister.

I don't know if the Queen or any of her aides suggested a "deadline" for government formation (a claim which I personally doubt), but that doesn't change the fact The Queen played no active role in the 2010 coalition negotiations and became a part of the process only when the politicians had already sorted out things among themselves and strictly according to the advice she received from the outgoing PM.

GOD Save The Queen would be scrapped as the national anthem for the England football team under plans being put forward in Parliament this week.

A cross-party group of MPs is backing a proposal that would see the song replaced by an England-specific anthem for international sporting events, including this year’s Uefa European Championships.

Among those supporting the legislation, which will go before the Commons on Wednesday, are former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt and Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland.

Although the Government has no official stance on the issue, Prime Minister David Cameron has previously backed calls for an English anthem for the country’s sporting events, with him declaring the hymn Jerusalem as his favourite.

The Honourable Margaret Rhodes said: “We have been happily singing God Save The Queen for ever – I don’t see the need to change it.

“The Queen has always said she’s only there for as long as people want her, but I should think they’d think it’s rather rude.”

Senior Labour MP Toby Perkins, who is sponsoring the Bill, believes it will strengthen people’s English identities.

He said: “I don’t do this out of antipathy for the British national anthem, I am a Christian, and I am not a Republican, but I want to keep God Save the Queen for Britain, and instead introduce a purely English Anthem to be sung in advance of England football and rugby matches and other sporting events.

“The union between the home nations is a dear and precious thing that is under threat. England is a component part of the UK but it is not the same thing as Britain.”

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said: “All four parts of the UK should have their own anthem. Even the Isle of Man has its own anthem.”

For what it's worth, I think it's a great idea. Why shouldn't England have its own national anthem to sing/play at sporting matches against Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland? And save God Save the Queen for events where the team represents the UK as a whole. I don't see anything "rude" about it.

__________________"That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, -- and call off Christmas!!!"

John McDonnell will not kneel before the Queen when he joins the Privy Council, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Labour’s shadow chancellor will instead follow the example of Jeremy Corbyn, who has told how he and the Monarch “shook hands like adults” when he became a member of the council.

Mr McDonnell is to become a member of the Privy Council in early February. He will then be referred to as “Right Honourable” by other MPs in the Commons and will be given briefings on issues of national security.

It came as Mr Corbyn’s reshuffle failed to silence criticism from his frontbench as three shadow cabinet ministers on Sunday publicly indicated that they could quit if he abandons support for the Trident nuclear deterrent.

When Mr Corbyn became a member of the council in November, he was told that he would not have to kneel before the Queen, as is traditional.

One MP who is a member of the Privy Council said that the Labour leadership is now setting a “precedent” of not following tradition and kneeling before the Queen.

“First Jeremy Corbyn refused to bow and now his shadow chancellor is going to do the same thing – it sets a precedent and is not sufficiently respectful,” the MP said.

__________________
The Queen is the most wonderful, forgiving, non judgmental person I know. Sarah Ferguson speaking in 2011.

This is just my guess but as it stated that its easily done over two audiences, what I imagine will happen is the first audience will be Cameron officially resigning his position with HM. The second one will be with May being asked by HM to officially lead her government. Its a purely ceremonial ritual.

I remember watching in the movie "The Queen" that when HM met Tony Blair, he kind of made a faux pas and the Queen gently reminded him that it was her duty and place to ask him to take on the role in forming her government.

__________________
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
― John Lennon

When Mr Cameron offers his resignation it is normal for him, as the outgoing PM, to advise the Queen of who his successor should be. She operates on the advice of her PM and when one PM resigns it is for that PM to advise her who should take over in that position.

Great news - able to send messages again as one of the people on my trip is an IT expert and has fixed my computer - some glitch when I updated to Windows 10. So I am back in computer land.

Wednesday late afternoon/early evening will be interesting to watch, although the change of Prime Minister is, as others have described, quite straightforward.

From what I remember a few years ago when Gordon Brown became the Prime Minister, we will see Mr Cameron leave Number 10 Downing Street and his arrival at the Palace. Afterwards, he will leave the palace and be driven away, probably to his constituency or private home maybe. Then we will see Mrs May arrive at the Palace and after seeing the Queen, she will be driven back to Number 10 Downing Street.

I heard on the Radio that one of most most difficult things that a new Prime Minster experiences is sudden increase in security surrounding them.

The formal handover of power from David Cameron to Theresa May will not be complete until the Queen has played her important constitutional role in the process.

As head of state it is the Queen's duty to appoint the prime minister who leads Her Majesty's Government.

Mr Cameron will make the journey to Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to see the monarch and tender his resignation as Prime Minister.

When former prime minister Gordon Brown left office after the 2010 general election, he brought his wife Sarah and their two young sons Fraser and John along for his final meeting with the Queen.

For his last audience with the Queen Mr Cameron may be joined by his wife Samantha as he was for the moment he was confirmed as Prime Minister at the palace in May 2010.

Theresa May will arrive at the palace sometime after Mr Cameron has left for her private audience with the Queen, a momentous moment in her political career and the life of the nation.

She will become the Queen's 13th prime minister when she accepts the monarch's offer to form a new govermnent and following tradition will "kiss hands" with the head of state - in reality shaking hands.

There had been speculation about the whereabouts of the Queen with commentators trying to establish if the monarch was close to Buckingham Palace in a bid to gauge whether Mr Cameron's resignation was imminent.

But the Prime Minister announced from Downing Street he would be resigning on Wednesday after his last Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

It is claimed the Queen is at her private Norfolk home of Sandringham where she traditionally spends the Christmas break but also stays at other times of the year.

Buckingham Palace was flying the union flag - and not the royal standard - earlier, indicating the Queen was not in residence.

On Wednesday, before the Prime Minister resigns, the Queen, joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, will visit East Anglian Air Ambulance at Cambridge Airport to officially open the new home of the charity whose pilots include the Duke of Cambridge.